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At Golden Gate University, we offer a variety of different academic programs including
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This course is an in-depth review of the law, policies, and procedures regulating the entry into the United States of foreigners for business, employment, and investment purposes. Students examine the various strategies available to U.S. employers and to foreign individuals under existing law. Students further familiarize themselves with the federal agencies that regulate the dispensation of temporary and permanent immigration benefits in business, employment, and investment contexts, and develop insights into counseling and procedures for obtaining those benefits. The course also addresses related issues, such as employer compliance with federal employment eligibility verification requirements, and, to a lesser extent, export control issues, the impact of mergers and acquisitions, the intersection of immigration and employment law, and tax aspects of immigration.

This seminar compares current tax law in countries from all parts of the developed and developing world. The course will explore similarities and differences among countries' income and other tax systems and identify the implications for tax practice. Using a structural framework, the course materials include recent cases and commentaries. The seminar will also assess national tax regimes in light of international tax treaty requirements and models (OECD, UN, EU, WTO, etc.). (Offered through the LLM in Taxation Program. JD students seeking to enroll must obtain the approval of the program director.)

This global approach to the study of legal systems in various parts of the world is designed to enable students to recognize and analyze legal problems that might confront lawyers dealing with matters involving application of foreign law. The course focuses on the fundamental historical, institutional, and procedural differences between the common law and the civil law systems, with an emphasis on the code systems of continental Europe, and on their use as models for law reform in developing countries. References are also made to legal systems based on religious principles or socialist legal principles. This course will count toward the JD Upper Division Writing Requirement.

The American Society of International Law sponsors this moot court competition, which enables students to argue timely questions of international law in regional and final competitions against teams from 150 law schools in 20 different countries. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 1 - 2

LAW 846E

EUROPEAN UNION LAW SEMINAR

This course surveys the development of regional law in Europe, culminating in the formation of the European Community, European Union, and European Economic Area.

Units: 2

LLM 364G

GENDER, CHILDREN & INTERNATIONAL LAW

This seminar will examine key legal issues related to women and children within the international context and the relevant responses designed by international law. Each week we will look at current international issues such as gender discrimination, violence against women, women's violence, religious or traditional practices, including female genital cutting and forced child marriages, abortion, sex trafficking and prostitution, women in peace building, women's land and property rights, child labor, child soldiers as well as other war crimes affecting women and children in hostilities. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

This course will focus on U.S. and national asylum law and procedure, international refugee protection law and procedure, and significant debates regarding these topics. Students will become familiar with the process involving USCIS, US ICE, Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the federal courts of review. This course counts toward completion of the Upper Division Writing Requirement.

This introduction to immigration and naturalization law and procedure examines major immigration policies and covers immigration and naturalization statutes, regulations, major administrative and court decisions, and constitutional rights as affected by alienage.

This three (3) unit course will provide students with an introduction to the main multilateral and international rules, regimes and organizations governing international business transactions, international trade and international investment. By understanding the principles of international law and why States have established regimes and intergovernmental organizations and why States have adhered to these legal principles, students will gain a thorough appreciation of the important role these organizations, rules and regimes play in shaping and determining the flow of international business and investment. The students will acquire knowledge on how these regimes and organizations govern relations among States, how they function, the roles of member governments and secretariat officials, how decisions are made and their consequences and how disputes are resolved. As a result, students should be able to identify how and why an international organization or regime can contribute to the resolution of specific problems faced by governments, firms, or NGOs as a result of international trade and investment. The course will use a problem/case-study approach in dealing with legal issues arising in international commercial transactions, international trade, and international investment. Students will gain an appreciation for the intersection of conflicting national legal norms that must be negotiated in order to complete cross-border transactions. Students will also gain an awareness of the international treaties that provide the background for these transactions while becoming familiar with some of the documents that are typically used in international trade.

This course begins with a brief historical introduction to the concept of international human rights and their antecedents. Selected international human rights instruments, including U.N. documents, regional instruments, U.S. reservations, U.S. legislation, and war crimes documents, are then examined in detail with appropriate classifications of human rights in accordance with their contents or substance and the chronological and generational stages of their development.

This course examines the law regulating international investment, exploring the range of issues practitioners deal with, including different bodies and mechanisms set up for the settlement of investment disputes, as well as selected international instruments at regional, interregional, and multilateral levels. This course counts toward completion of the JD Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 3

LAW 848A

INTERNATIONAL LAW - ANNUAL SURVEY

Students who have been selected to edit articles for the Annual Survey of Comparative & International Law may sign-up for this 1-2 credit class with instructor approval in the spring semester of their second or third year of law school. LLM and SJD students are eligible to apply to work on the Annual Survey for credit as well. Students will edit articles submitted by outside and student authors. The production editor may receive 2 credits and all other student editors will receive 1 credit for editing articles. The course includes some mandatory orientation and training sessions at times to be determined early in the spring semester. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

This survey of international organizations includes the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as well as institutions for dispute resolution. This course counts toward completion of the JD Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 3

LLM 322

INTERNATIONAL TRADE REGULATION

This survey of the international regulation of trade in goods and services emphasizes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Other topics include the role of regional economic arrangements (such as NAFTA and the EC), the relationship of U.S. trade law to the international trading regime, the role of specialized U.N. agencies, and the position of developing countries in the global trading system. This course counts toward completion of the JD Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 3

LAW 817B

INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC LAW

This course introduces students to the basic concepts of Islamic law and their applicability in contemporary legal systems. Throughout the course students will learn the history and evolution of Islamic law, development of different schools of thought, an overview of the substantive principles and comparative analyses with existing legal principles in the world. Students will also have an opportunity to explore Islamic legal systems in diverse communities, the impact of colonialism and modernity on Islamic law, and to examine the presence of Islam in today's western societies. This course counts toward completion of the JD Upper Division Writing Requirement.

Units: 2

LLM 383

LAW OF INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICT

Students explore the body of law governing the actions of nations and individuals during a state of armed conflict. Topics include the use of force between states, rules of international armed conflict, war crimes and war crimes tribunals (including applications to ongoing conflicts), international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, arms control and disarmament, torture, collective security, women in armed conflict, child soldiers, the United Nations and U.N. peacekeeping efforts, and the applicability of the laws to national and international terrorism. This course counts toward completion of the JD Upper Division Writing Requirement.

This basic course introduces the progressive development of international law, which primarily regulates the relations between states but also governs the rights and obligations of subjects other than states, namely, international organizations and individuals. Sources of international law are examined. Substantive topics for study include jurisdiction, territories and responsibility of states, the law of treaties, and international liability of states for injurious consequences of acts not prohibited by international law.

The focus of this course is to examine the theory, law and practices of transnational regional courts. The rapid proliferation of these new courts constitutes one of the most remarkable changes in international law. Although traditional courts have served the regions well in the past, new regional integration economic agreements demand these specialized courts to ensure uniformity, a predictable economic climate, and adherence to the rule of law. Increased cross-border movement of goods and services, financial interdependence, and instant communication necessitates familiarity with their various legal practices. Students will acquire knowledge of the institutional and procedural aspects of these courts, and their advantages and disadvantages.